Rain, mountain snow due in Southern California area by Thursday night

The 54-year-old native of Jamaica has grown weary of breathless weather forecasts. And bad California drivers.

"The rain is going to fall whether we're alive or dead," said Anderson, who now lives in Rancho Cucamonga. "That's why a lot of the Western states don't want Californians. They don't know how to drive."

Anderson said Wednesday was a bad time to talk about forecasters' predictions of a half-inch of rain and low-level mountain snowfall starting late Thursday.

He was loading hamburger buns, fruit and distilled water into his car at the Stater Bros. on Fourth Street and Vineyard Avenue in Ontario.

And not just because he was preparing for a storm that could pepper the high desert with hail over the next couple of days.

Anderson has been unemployed for three years. Weather forecasts are the least of his concerns.

"It's idiocy," Anderson said. "It's a circus. We know in the winter it snows. What's going to happen? It's going to stop snowing? I have bigger problems, from (Gov.) Jerry Brown to that clown in the White House. And Congress."

Still, some officials are warning the public about the storm.

The Los Angeles County Public Works Department announced that it is closing some roads in the Angeles National Forest because of snow and ice.

The closures will remain in place until the storm system passes and roads have been inspected.

"(Thursday) night is when the main brunt of the precipitation will come in," said Stephen Harrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego.

Forecasters predict heavy showers at times, with a slight chance of thunderstorms.

The Inland Empire is expected to see a quarter- to a half-inch of rain late tonight through Friday, with snow levels dipping to 3,300 feet.

Harrison said between 6 and 12 inches of snow could be dumped in the San Bernardino Mountains above 6,000 feet.

David Wert, spokesman for San Bernardino County, said the storm "isn't expected to be any worse than any other storm we've had this season."

The low-pressure system is expected to bring between a half-inch and inch of rain to Los Angeles County on Friday, with four to seven inches of snow above 5,000 feet in the mountains.

"You could see snow down to 3,000 feet," said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

The clouds and showers should dissipate by Saturday, leading to a mostly clear Sunday, according to forecasters.

"We are expecting things to warm up over the weekend and early next week, (with temperatures) in the low 70s by Monday or Tuesday," Kittell said.

The skies were sunny Wednesday when Anderson was buying his groceries. He's lived in California for 38 years.

"If it's going to rain, have windshield wipers that work," he said. "In California, they don't take care of their vehicles. You caught me on a bad day. I could go on. If you can't slow down (in the rain), stay home."